


Merry-Go-Round of Life

by greeneggs101



Category: Kingdom Hearts (Video Games)
Genre: Dreams, Established Relationship, Fluff, Hurt/Comfort, M/M, Post-Canon, Sappy
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-08-04
Updated: 2020-08-04
Packaged: 2021-03-06 05:28:36
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,520
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25708204
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/greeneggs101/pseuds/greeneggs101
Summary: Every night Riku meets up with Sora in his dreams for a date he never wants to end. Tonight, Sora has a very special surprise.
Relationships: Riku/Sora (Kingdom Hearts)
Comments: 15
Kudos: 68
Collections: Re⊕Collect: A Soriku Fic Collection





	Merry-Go-Round of Life

**Author's Note:**

> Of course right before I post this, Fireborn comes up with the best possible alternative title: Dream Drop Date! xD 
> 
> This was written as part of Re:Collect, a soriku fic collection. I had a lot of fun working on this project and I'm so proud of what everyone wrote! I hope you enjoy!

“C’mon, sleepyhead, wake up!”

Slowly, Riku became aware of his surroundings. The sounds of cars honking, tires driving across rain-wet streets, the scent of dust after a rainstorm.

“Riku...” A familiar voice called out. “It can’t be that comfortable on the sidewalk. You could have at least landed on a bench or something.”

“I didn’t really have a choice in the matter,” Riku grumbled, blinking his eyes open. As soon as he caught sight of large, familiar shoes, he felt every muscle in his body relax.

_Sora._

Soon, Sora’s large blue eyes and spiky brown hair entered his field of vision as well. Riku could get lost in those eyes and had done so on numerous occasions. They were just so... _blue,_ and they seemed to change color depending on the surrounding atmosphere. Or even with Sora’s mood, or—

“Are you still sleeping?” Sora chuckled. “C’mon! You’re already late!” Sora extended his hand, with a large, exuberant smile on his face.

Riku took it, letting Sora’s quiet but impressive strength lift him off the ground. As soon as he was standing, Riku laughed, reaching out to draw Sora into a tight hug.

“If only the awake me could remember why I want to go to sleep every night. I’d never be late again.”

He pulled away just enough to press his forehead to Sora’s, staring into dark blue eyes that started to tear up in sadness. Riku raised a hand to run it gently through Sora’s hair, tilting their faces just enough to capture Sora’s pouting lips in a deep kiss.

Sora gasped in surprise, but quickly melted into the embrace, reaching out to pull Riku closer. Riku stepped as close as he could, their chests pressed tightly together, their hearts hammering in a synchronized beat.

All too soon, Riku slowly, reluctantly pulled away. “I wish I could remember every moment of this. I would never want to leave your side.”

Sora bit his lip, and Riku struggled not to kiss him again.

“But you have to stay awake in the real world to find me,” Sora pointed out, reaching up to brush Riku’s bangs away from his face. Then, in a blink, Sora’s expression shifted from sad to excited. “Now, come on! Come see what I found!”

He grabbed Riku’s hand and began to pull him down the street. Riku laughed and willingly followed, using his longer stride to catch up quickly. He squeezed Sora’s hand, smiling fondly when Sora began to hum an absent little tune.

Despite Sora’s reassurances, Riku already felt his heart drop at the thought of having to wake up. He never remembered these dreams, these moments with Sora, when he woke. He almost felt bad that everything they’d built—their whole relationship—was in a dream that Riku would never remember in full once he woke. He could only recount flashes of tall buildings, the rain, and the feeling of someone watching him.

But when he had finally found Sora in these dreams, he hadn’t been able to hold back any longer and told him everything. How he felt, how he had always felt, and how he would always feel about Sora. How much he would love and protect Sora from anything. How much he wanted to hold him until the world made sense once more. How much he—

Honestly, Riku hadn’t gotten farther than that, as Sora soon covered his rambling lips with his own, cutting him off in a kiss that made him feel dizzy and breathless and so, so loved.

Ever since, they met up every night in these dreams, going on “dates” as best they could in their limited nighttime cityscape. They raced across skyscrapers, sparred on rooftops, and even searched the cloudy sky for familiar stars. Anything to help Riku find Sora in reality.

Sora never mentioned what _he_ did when he “woke”, or if he even remembered. Riku had tried asking, but Sora’s face would turn sad, and Riku didn’t want to poke at that wound. He knew something was hurting Sora, but if his presence at night soothed him, then Riku would do his best to be a loving and supportive boyfriend. He would find Sora someday soon. But for now—

“Here it is! I saw it when I was on my way to look for you the other night! I thought it would be a good date spot!”

Riku glanced up from where he had been lost in his thoughts. Ahead of them was a merry-go-round; the horses, lions, and other animals stationery and dimly lit only by the streetlamps around them.

“Come on!” Sora pulled Riku onto the platform, taking a seat on one of the majestic lions and patting the snow leopard next to him. “Well?”

Riku chuckled. “How are we gonna ride it with no electricity?”

“Really, Riku?” Sora asked, a mixture of fondness and exasperation.

He summoned his keyblade and held it aloft. “ _Thunder!_ ”

A bolt came down from the sky, hitting the merry-go-round. With a spark of electricity, the lights came on at once, bright and colorful. Riku was almost blinded by it for a moment, and was then thrown off balance when the carousel started to move. He felt Sora quickly grab his hand and tug him towards the pole attached to the snow leopard.

“Don’t fall off, Riku!” Sora giggled, patting the snow leopard again. “C’mon! Ride your majestic mount.”

Riku laughed but climbed on, feeling a little silly. But then Sora reached out and took his hand, letting their joined hands hang comfortably between them as the ride lifted their animals up and down, the platform turning in a lazy circle. The speakers kicked on; a soft, comforting tune accompanying their ride.

With a spark of recognition, Riku realized what the song was. “It’s our heart song!”

Sora tilted his head, possibly to hear better. Riku thought the gesture was cute. “Oh! It is! Cool!”

Riku laughed and squeezed Sora’s hand.

They fell into a comfortable silence as the merry-go-round turned, never slowing or stopping. When Riku wasn’t distracted by the way the lights lit up Sora’s figure, he took the chance to look around. The area the merry-go-round was in seemed to be a small park, with a playground nearby. Just like usual though, Riku never saw another person.

Despite the cars that still drove up and down the streets, the office lights shining from skyscrapers, and the food carts that lined the sidewalk, Riku and Sora never saw another person during their dates.

Not even the mysterious watcher that Riku still occasionally felt.

Then why was it, when he woke up from this dreamscape, that he could never remember this? It was so real right now. The warmth of Sora’s hand in his, the joy Riku felt in his heart whenever Sora smiled. The way his whole body filled with love when they kissed.

How could he not remember this?

“What are you thinking about?” Sora asked.

Riku turned, admiring the way the colorful lights highlighted Sora’s face, his blue eyes nearly glowing. “Nothing important.”

“Hmm... It feels like it’s important though.”

Riku hummed, struggling to maintain eye contact, even as Sora’s gaze turned concerned. “It’s just... I’m sad, I guess. That I don’t remember these moments. That out of all the things we experience here, all I’ll remember when I wake up again is the lights from the streetlamps and that weird feeling that someone is watching—”

Riku cut himself off. He hadn’t meant to say that. He hadn’t told Sora about their mysterious observer.

“Someone is... watching us?” Sora said, already glancing around. “Who?”

“I... don’t know,” Riku admitted. “I’ve never seen them.”

“Oh...” Sora trailed off. “Well... are they watching now?”

Riku thought about it for a second but shook his head. “No. Not right now.”

“Okay then, good!” Sora’s smile returned. “Then we can relax and enjoy our date. I think we deserved it. Especially after—”

This time it was Sora who cut himself off, and Riku squeezed his hand in concern. Sora turned to avoid his gaze, his smile becoming more fake as the ride continued to turn. “Sora?”

“It’s nothing,” Sora quickly said, shaking his head.

“ _Sora._ ”

Sora glanced back, hesitating for a moment before sighing. “It’s not important.”

“It _feels_ important,” Riku said, echoing Sora’s earlier words.

Sora’s lips tightened for a moment before he nodded to himself. “Okay... you know how I said before that I don’t really remember what happens when I wake up?”

“Yeah?”

Sora looked back at Riku, his eyes serious. “I’ve started to get the feeling that I’m fighting someone. And I think... I lose sometimes.”

Riku frowned, squeezing Sora’s hand. “Well, sometimes you don’t win every fight.”

“But this feels different. When I lose, I—I think something happens to me and I can’t—” Sora’s breath hitched. “My last thought is always of you. And then I wake up here. And I keep... having these weird thoughts. Like, is any of this for real, or not?”

“Hey, hey...” Riku tried to soothe Sora, sliding off the snow leopard and stepping closer to Sora’s lion. He reached up and laid his free hand on Sora’s face, brushing tears away. “Shh.... This is real. I’m here. I’m real.”

“But this is a dream,” Sora whispered.

“And dreams are wishes, and wishes are _real,_ ” Riku said, desperately putting faith into his own words. “I wanted to see you so bad that my dreams whisked me away to where you were. This is real. Aren’t you the one always telling me that? When I’m sad that I don’t remember things when I wake up?”

Sora’s breath was warm against Riku’s palm when he laughed. “Yeah. This is real.”

“Then have faith in your own words.” Riku pressed their foreheads together. “I love you. That’s real. No matter what.”

“I love you too,” Sora whispered back.

They stood there in comfortable silence for a moment longer, surrounded by the bright, colorful lights of the merry-go-round and listening to their heart song amplified over the speakers.

After a long moment, they ended their ride on the carousel, letting it continue to spin lazily as they took a walk around the park, hands still tightly intertwined.

Sora turned to look back, waving at the lion and snow leopard still going round. “I do wonder if this place actually exists. Or if I wished it into existence. I wanted to take you someplace nice.”

Riku smiled, leaning over to capture Sora in a quick kiss before breaking away. “I loved it. Reminded me of the summer fairs back home.”

Sora grinned. “Yeah! I loved those. Are they still doing them?”

Riku shook his head. “I haven’t been back in... a long time. After I find you, we’ll go back together, okay?”

“Deal!”

Riku looked at Sora, took in his features, committing them to heart. How his eyes looked in the glow from the street lamps, how his hair ruffled in the slight breeze. How dawn’s light seemed to—

Dawn.

Riku gasped and turned to the east, watching as the first rays of sunlight peeked over the buildings. A quiet groan left his lips, even as he tried to hold it back. Dawn was coming, the end of another night spent with Sora.

“What’s wrong, Riku?” Sora asked, squeezing his hand.

Riku sighed, reaching out to gently cup Sora’s face. He wished he could remember something. Anything about these moments. Even just Sora’s face. Some reassurance that Sora was waiting for him. “I don’t want to wake up. I want to stay here with you. I want—I want to remember these moments.”

Sora leaned into his hand. “Riku...”

Raising their intertwined hands, Sora placed them over his own chest, and Riku could feel his racing heart. “All these moments and memories are here. Safe in my heart. In _our_ hearts. Even if you can’t remember them when you wake, they’re here. I’ll remember them for you.”

Riku knew his face probably reflected every sappy thought that raced through his head at that moment, but he couldn’t stop it. He just loved Sora so much. He raised their joined hands, pressing soft kisses over Sora’s fingers. “I love you.”

Sora breathed out a laugh, his smile fond. He raised his free hand, touching Riku’s cheek. “I love you too.”

Riku sighed, closing his eyes—

And woke up in his bed. He frowned, wondering why his cheeks hurt as if he had been smiling.

And why did one side of his face feel warm as if someone had just touched it?

* * *

Riku couldn’t contain his shout of joy and relief as the crystals surrounding Sora’s body began to disappear, freeing Sora from their grasp. He reached out, gently brushing a hand against Sora’s hand, feeling the warmth there. Alive. Sora was _alive_ and _here_ and—

Sora gasped, stumbling a few steps forward until Riku caught him, steadying his clumsy, uncoordinated footsteps. “You’re okay, Sora. I’m right here, I—”

“I told you you’d find me!” Sora exclaimed.

Riku blinked in confusion but readily accepted the hug Sora gave him, wrapping his own arms around Sora just as tight. He missed this so much. So much more than Sora knew. Sora smelled so good, like the ocean, and he was so warm. Riku felt tears come to his eyes and he quickly hid them in Sora’s shoulder.

He was being a sap. But he supposed it didn’t matter much. Not to Sora. Slowly, he became aware of Sora trying to pull away, and Riku reluctantly let go, sure that Sora would ask about the others, or maybe about that weird guy behind Riku. Or those weird crystals or—

He didn’t expect the kiss.

Sora’s lips were warm, if slightly chapped, but firm and insistent. Riku blinked in surprise for a moment. Was he dream—

_“This is real...”_

_“...All these moments and memories are here. Safe in my heart. In our hearts. Even if you can’t remember them when you wake, they’re here. I’ll remember them for you.”_

Colorful lights and a familiar song from a merry-go-round, promises of love, reassurances of reality. All this and more came back to Riku as Sora continued to kiss him. He relaxed into the kiss, pressing back until the need for air became unbearable.

Sora was breathing heavily, even as he glanced up into Riku’s eyes with a cheeky grin. “Well?”

Riku chuckled, pressing their foreheads together. “It’s like you said, Sora. The memories were safe in our hearts.”

Sora’s smile widened. “Good. So... are we done fighting bad guys now? ‘Cause I just want to go on a date during the day time with you. And travel to different worlds, and find out if that merry-go-round is real, and—”

Riku cut him off with another kiss. “We’ll get to all that. But first, I just want to kiss you for a little bit longer.”

Sora’s smile and laugh were breathless, and he met Riku halfway for another deep kiss, safe in the knowledge that there was no limit, no waking up—just the time to finally be together.

**Author's Note:**

> Please leave a comment and kudos and be sure to check out the rest of the WONDERFUL fics in this collection!


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